Disease-causing pathogen rewires gut metabolism to secure nutrients for growth, research shows

An intestinal pathogen reshapes the gut environment to fuel its own colonization and cause diseases, a multi-institutional team including researchers at Vanderbilt Health has discovered. The investigators show that enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF), which causes diarrhea and has been implicated in colitis (inflammation of the colon) and colorectal cancer, uses a toxin it produces to reprogram intestinal cell metabolism and generate conditions that support its growth.